325 West End Avenue, New York City, New York, 10023-8145 Tel: 646 827-0724 Fax: 212 994-9603 E-mail: jonathan@jonathanahill.com and yoshi@jonathanahill.com Potatoes No. 4: HUGHES, William. The American Physitian London: 1672.
1. [BLIGH, Reginald]. A Case of Extreme, and unparalleled Hardship: containing Considerations on a Verdict, that Potatoes and Turnips are Hay and Corn! 25, [1] pp. 8vo, 19thcent. red sheep-backed marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. London: Printed for the Author, 1799. $1500.00 First edition of this scarce book. Rev. Bligh, who has signed and dated (25 August 1798) the final leaf, had the living at Romaldkirk, Yorkshire. This is his account of his lawsuit against his own parishioners regarding the payment of tithes. He gives many details of land and property held by the church and the rules of tithes set out in documents known as glebe terriers. This trial was rather famous in its time. Title dusty but a nice copy. Stamp of the Lawes Agricultural Trust on front paste-down. Outstanding 2. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. Report of the Committee of the Board of Agriculture, appointed to extract Information from the Country Reports, and other Authorities, concerning the Culture and Use of Potatoes. Seven engraved plates (several folding). viii, 177 pp. Large 4to, early 19th-cent. half-calf & marbled boards (some scuffing), flat spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed by W. Bulmer for G. Nicol et al., 1795. $2250.00 First edition of the Board of Agriculture s famous report on the potato. During the final four decades of the 18th century Britain experienced a number of corn harvest failures with a resulting rise in the price of wheat. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the Board of Agriculture, and various private individuals advocated the adoption of the potato as a substitute for wheat, and great efforts were made to popularize the cultivation of this crop. This work, illustrated with seven plates, is outstanding for its series of well-informed articles on the subject concerned. Potatoes are here considered for their use in feeding cattle, and also as a food for human consumption. Henrey, II, pp. 613-14 & no. 461. Nice copy, lacking leaf with table of contents (clearly never bound in). Inscribed on the half-title: Presented by Joseph Sabine Esq. 22d February 1820. Sabine (1770-1837), natural historian and F.R.S., was one of the original fellows of the Linnean Society, honorary secretary of the Horticultural Society, and active in the work of the Zoological Society. Stamp of the Lawes Agricultural Trust on front and rear paste-downs. The Earliest Work in English on the Medicinal Virtues of North American Tropical Plants 3. HUGHES, William. The American Physitian; or, a Treatise of the Roots, Plants, Trees, Shrubs, Fruit, Herbs &c. growing in the English Plantations in America. Describing the Place, Time, Names, Kindes, Temperature, Vertues and Uses of them, either for Diet, Physick, &c. Whereunto is added a Discourse of the Cacao-Nut-Tree, and the use of its Fruit; with all the ways of making of Chocolate. The like never extant before. 12 p.l. (the first a blank), 159, [9] pp. (final leaf blank). 12mo, cont. sheep (spine faded, a bit rubbed). London: J.C. for W. Crook, 1672. $27,500.00 First edition of the earliest work in English on the medicinal virtues of North American tropical plants. Based on first-hand observations made in the West Indies. Evidence suggests that Hughes began his career in 1651 with a privateering voyage to the West Indies, during
which he traveled to Barbados, St. Kitts, Cuba, Jamaica and mainland Florida. He appears to have spent a good deal of time visiting British plantations on Jamaica and Barbados, where he observed and made descriptions of a large number of New World tropical plants including potatoes, yams, maize ( the wheat of America ), bananas, avocadoes ( Spanish pears ), chili peppers, watermelons, sugarcane, guavas, prickly pears, coconuts and manioc. Hughes s work contributed greatly to the spread of the American indigenous use of plants either for Meat or Medicine. Wilson & Hurst, Chocolate as Medicine [2012] p. 55. Garrison-Morton 7007 (on-line version, new addition). While little is known about Hughes (active 1665-83), he did leave evidence in his books that he had worked at one time at Radley, in Warwickshire, and that he had travelled throughout England and to the vineyards in Europe. This book was written during his time in the West Indies. The last third of Hughes s book is devoted to the medicinal properties of chocolate, which he called the American nectar. This is an extremely rare book on the market and our copy is very fine in its first binding. Preserved in a box. Henrey, I, p. 204 & no. 203 in the bibliography. 4. KIRKPATRICK, Hezekiah. An Account of the Manner in which Potatoes are Cultivated and Preserved, and the Uses to which they are applied in the Counties of Lancaster and Chester, together with a Description of a New Variety of the Potatoe, peculiarly convenient for Forcing in Hot-Houses and Frames. 2 p.l., 46 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Warrington: Printed by W. Eyres, 1796. $1950.00 First edition of this scarce provincial imprint. During the final four decades of the 18th century Britain experienced a number of corn harvest failures with a resulting rise in the price of wheat. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the Board of Agriculture, and various private individuals advocated the adoption of the potato as a substitute for wheat, and great efforts were made to popularize the cultivation of this crop. The writer of the present tract was no doubt inspired by a Board of Agriculture report on the culture and use of potatoes, which was published in 1795. Kirkpatrick, who lived near Wigan in Lancashire, a well-established center for potato cultivation, was not a professional nurseryman, but he grew certain plants in his garden that he offered for sale. After giving details concerning the cultivation, raising, and storing of potatoes, Kirkpatrick describes their various uses. He points out their value in lessening the consumption of grain, flour, or bread, gives directions of ways of cooking them for humans and also livestock, and includes a receipt for making starch from potatoes. Moreover, he lists the names of [more than 35] different varieties of early and late potatoes grown in the vicinity of Wigan. Henrey, II, pp. 390, 614-15 & no. 899. Nice copy with a small paste-on errata slip at the end. Fussell, III, pp. 16-17. 5. MAUNSELL, Rev. William. Letters to the Right Honourable and Honourable the Dublin Society, on the Culture of the Potatoes from the Shoots. One folding printed table. 96 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Dublin: Printed by W. Sleater, 1794. $1750.00 First edition and very rare; ESTC locates only one copy in North America. The first of
Rev. Maunsell s two letters is dated from Limerick, in February 1793; there are also numerous affidavits, testimonials, etc., relating to his recommendations. The cultivation of the potato was much more widespread in Ireland at this period than it was in England; under the guidance of the Board of Agriculture, however, it soon became an important crop in all parts of Britain. Maunsell was a controversial figure not everyone agreed with him. Fussell, III, p. 17. A fine copy, complete with the half-title and folding table. Henrey, II, pp. 208, 599, & 614 & no. 1051. 6. RALEY, William. A Practical Essay on the Management of Potatoes, or, a New Method of Preventing the Disorder thereof, called Curl d Tops. Containing Short and Plain Directions for the Right Management of Potatoes; with Respect to Their Preservation, Setting, Time of Growth, Taking Up, &c. Chiefly designed for the Use and Benefit of Farmers and Countrymen in General, Being adapted to the Lowest Capacity. To which is Added, an Account of the Artificial Manure for Potatoes with Respect to its Use, Effect, &c. &c. vi, 18 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards (title dusty), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed for Mess. Richardson and Urquhart et al., 1782. $1850.00 First edition and very rare. During the final four decades of the 18th century Britain experienced a number of corn harvest failures with a resulting rise in the price of wheat. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the Board of Agriculture, and various private individuals advocated the adoption of the potato as a substitute for wheat, and great efforts were made to popularize the cultivation of this crop. The present work is one of the earliest British books devoted solely to the growing of potatoes. Raley, student in physic and botany, in Barmby upon the moor, near Pocklington, Yorkshire, published two works in the same year on the potato. This is his second work, in which he gives directions on how to grow this crop, and also how to cure curl d top, a disease that had been troubling potato growers in England for several years. The final five pages describe an artificial manure for potatoes, prepared by the author alone and sold at 1s. 4d. a pound. Purchasers of this manure would be given a discount when buying the present book. Very good copy. Stamp of the Lawes Agricultural Trust on title. Fussell, II, pp. 124-25. Henrey, II, pp. 612-13 & no. 1249. 7. LEE, Jeremy & POPPER, Simon. Potatoes, A Book by 23 silk-screened images of potatoes hand-tinted & tipped-in. 14 unnumbered leaves. Folio (430 x 310 mm.), orig. pink paper wrappers & yellow band with watercolored title, stitched. London: The Everyday Press, 2018. $200.00 A charming illustrated recipe book by the chef Jeremy Lee and British artist Simon Popper; produced in an edition of 75. Recipes include: pommes sarladaises, potato soup, Cullen skink, champ, and Janson s Temptation. The silk-screened potatoes were copied from 19th-century engravings of potatoes. Printed by Lesley Sharp. As new. (Images Below)